Originally posted by Dee4707 Icenut & Euterpe, thanks for the explanation. The reason I asked the question is because of the men's competition. Scott Hamiliton made the comment that if Alexei came in second he could win the gold.

Did I get confused because of that comment??Is is different for the men?

Dee

Plushenko was in the same position as Sarah Hughes - 4th in the SP (he fell on the quad, remember). To win gold, he needed to win the free and have Yagudin finish 3rd or lower on the free. If Yagudin had been 2nd in the free behind Plush, he would still have got the gold (same placements as Shen & Zhao in Dortmund) - that's what Scott Hamilton meant, about how if Yagudin came 2nd in the free behind Plush, he would still win gold. Sarah was the same - to win, she needed to win the free and have Kwan finish 3rd or lower on the free. It happened (Kwan was 3rd on the free), so Sarah was able to get the gold.